Activision-Blizzard Sued By California

[Forogil]

You should look into that a little more.

Do you have some point to make?

[Draco-Onis]

Where there is smoke there is usually a fire. I will still give them the benefit of doubt at the moment esp in light of their detesting evidence as distorted etc. Ofc the internet world would love to be the judge of yet another virtual court where the evul corp burns at the stake and though I hate blizzard as much as the next guy I will still not go into trying the case outside of a courtroom. Terrible allegations though...

I read their reply and statement to the accusations sounds like they are pretty much verifying a lot of the allegations. A great deal of that statement was " We know we were bad but we totes changed these last few years".

[Levelfive]

Do you have some point to make?

Yes, the one I made--you should really look into that more, but I am not super invested in whether you continue to make an ass of yourself claiming Iranian means "not white."

[Yuujin]

I also find the lawsuit a bit unclear, they complain about "white men" in leadership positions, while one of the named alleged offenders is Alex Afrasiabi (an Iranian-American).

This is kind of stupid. The lawsuit isn't just about white men in leadership positions. That's the diversity portion. The other porition, about misconduct toward female employees, encompasses Alex Afrasiabi's behavior which is why they mentioned him.

I mean, did you read the lawsuit, or are you just reading web articles? And honestly, if you did read the lawsuit, with all the shit in it, this is the (quite incorrect) nugget you decide to take from it?

[thottstation]

In nature, predators often camoflauge themselves to better ensnare prey.

[Overlordd]

I was originally replying to someone who was pointed at Afrasiabi's Iranian roots as some sort of excuse to the allegation of Blizzard having a white boy frat culture. The allegation stands as Afrasiabi is not an exception.

I thought the accusation just said frat culture? Not **white** frat culture.

Also the way you say "white boy". Are you a racist? Why make this about race in the first place?

[Yarathir]

In nature, predators often camoflauge themselves to better ensnare prey.

Pretty much all I can think here. I thought their recent bullshit was just rainbow capitalism at work, but it was worse- they were trying to hide skeletons in their closet.

[Forogil]

This is kind of stupid. The lawsuit isn't just about white men in leadership positions. That's the diversity portion. The other porition, about misconduct toward female employees, encompasses Alex Afrasiabi's behavior which is why they mentioned him.

You are missing the point that they see a connection between the two.

Women aren't in the very top position, are paid less in both in higher roles and in general, and there's a strong suggestion that this is connected to the misconduct against women, including retaliation when reporting (e.g., lower salary and lower chance of promotion).

I mean, did you read the lawsuit, or are you just reading web articles?

[Yuujin]

You are missing the point that they see a connection between the two.

Even if that was the case, which it isn't, but even if it was it still has nothing to do with your desperate desire to drag Alex Afrasiabi's race into this. Well, your desperate attempt to cling to the fact/idea that Alex Afrasiabi isn't a white man.

I mean, it's like on page three of the lawsuit where they talk about retaliation for complaints about harassment and none of it involves 'lower chance of promotion' or 'lower salary.' It's also pay cuts, not lower salaries. Salaries are negotiated at the start of employment or point of promotion/raises. If your pay is reduced, its a cut.

So yeah, you clearly didn't read it and you're trying to invent your own issues with it. You're one of those weirdos.

[MikeBogina]

Will this be the day when the idiots who whine constantly about "woke shit" finally figure out that it's literally only about profits? That companies only care about selling a message of inclusivity and diversity because people want to buy it?

No, probably not.

They'll probably continue to think it's some grand Marxist conspiracy to...I don't know...indoctrinate the children into the evil belief that it's okay to be friends with people who are different to them. Or something.

Or will this be the day when the idiots who buy into woke shit, realize they're being used for profits

All of the "woke shit" that companies are pushing these days is just marketing. They don't actually care about all of these silly causes.

They really don't. It's ironic how Blizzard pushes it on it's players, changes their games to be "inclusive", fire/replace the voice actor of Kael'thas and yet at their core, they're exactly what they're criticizing others for.

It's like when celebrities tell common folk to use less gas and go green, then fly on a private jet to an award show to pat themselves on the back. Maybe the woke folk will wake up to these companies using them.

[Rozz]

Debating someone's race or roots due to their complexion is far from appropriate and needs to cease now.

[Yuujin]

It's ironic how Blizzard pushes it on it's players, changes their games to be "inclusive", fire/replace the voice actor of Kael'thas and yet at their core, they're exactly what they're criticizing others for.

I must be out of the loop.

What 'woke shit' did Blizzard push on their players?
How did they change their games to be more inclusive?

And no, replacing a voice actor involved in a controversy is not 'woke,' it's a good business decision to distance yourself from controversy, so let's not include that.

[Forogil]

Deleted part to avoid wrath of moderators.

I mean, it's like on page three of the lawsuit where they talk about retaliation for complaints about harassment and none of it involves 'lower chance of promotion' or 'lower salary.'

Technically they don't use those words, but:
It's page 4 (and 11-14) where they talk about women in general having lower salary and lower chance of promotion.
It's page 5, 16, 22-23 where they talk about retaliations including denial of projects, denial of professional opportunities, and negative performance reviews. What do you think the result of that is?

[Magnagarde]

Deleted part to avoid wrath of moderators.


Technically they don't use those words, but:
It's page 4 (and 11-14) where they talk about women in general having lower salary and lower chance of promotion.
It's page 5, 16, 22-23 where they talk about retaliations including denial of projects, denial of professional opportunities, and negative performance reviews. What do you think the result of that is?

Most of us would love to see such a shakedown in most companies, both private and state-owned. This is a plague upon both private and public sectors and affects pretty much everyone, regardless of their sex. If it is a problem on level 7 EQF, I can imagine how bad it can get in a private corporate environment in the US.

I assume it is worse for women in gaming than it is for men, because men obviously dominate the industry. It happens to men in other sectors too.

[Alex Moriati]

What 'woke shit' did Blizzard push on their players?

for western players? pride.

quite funny to see the contrast between blizzard games and events in the west and here. like overwatch league, pride all over the place in broadcast for the us and europe. for korea? not mentioned at all, because it would cause more backlash than in europe or usa and give them bad publicity here, where in europe or usa people would rage at those who complain about pride.

[Forogil]

Most of us would love to see such a shakedown in most companies, both private and state-owned. This is a plague upon both private and public sectors and affects pretty much everyone, regardless of their sex. It is a problem for many on level 7 EQF, so I can imagine how bad it can get in a private corporate environment.

I don't know if governments or corporations are the worst in general.
Many corporations have a strong incentive to deliver something that people will actually pay for, and ruthlessly cut away some problems.

I assume it is worse for women in gaming than it is for men, because men obviously dominate the industry. It happens to men in other sectors too.

"Dominate" can mean different things.

One of the problems is that many of the women weren't hard-core gamers (or drinkers), and there seems to be some idea that playing video game at work (even outside of dedicated testing) was desirable in the employee. Part of that may also be a problem with the fan-base - look at the vitriol towards Bobby Kotick when he allegedly said he didn't play games (due to lack of time).

Oh, and it happened to at least one man at Blizzard as well.

[Yuujin]

Deleted part to avoid wrath of moderators.


Technically they don't use those words, but:
It's page 4 (and 11-14) where they talk about women in general having lower salary and lower chance of promotion.
It's page 5, 16, 22-23 where they talk about retaliations including denial of projects, denial of professional opportunities, and negative performance reviews. What do you think the result of that is?

So we're in agreement? The sexual misconduct AND gender discrimination are two different issues? Considering page 11-14 is just about gender discrimination and has nothing to do with the sexual misconduct the likes of Alex Afrasiabi got up to?

[Forogil]

So we're in agreement? The sexual misconduct AND gender discrimination are two different issues?

They are two issues, but they are related in terms of sexism, which is why they are part of the same law-suit.
Technically there are even more issues as the sexual misconduct, and the retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct are listed separately.

In the quote below can you identify what is sexual misconduct and what is gender discrimination, and do you see a strict line between those two clearly different issues, or do you see that those issues are part of a bigger issue?

Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about the sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape

[Specialka]

I must be out of the loop.

What 'woke shit' did Blizzard push on their players?
How did they change their games to be more inclusive?

And no, replacing a voice actor involved in a controversy is not 'woke,' it's a good business decision to distance yourself from controversy, so let's not include that.

In Overwatch, you get Tracer who is lesbian, Symmetra who is an autist, and I am sure I left some out.

In wow, you have pelagos who was a women in life and a man in death. You get the gay couple of horse spirit in the night fae faction, etc...

[Yuujin]

The crux of the indictment is systemic pay discrimination and not systemic sexual harassment or sexual misconduct. The systemic pay discrimination can be looked at as weak because it initially compares the pay of CEO/CTO/COO/CPO and those roles aren't comparable.

By citing that, CA has raised the burden of proof on how they're determining equitable roles.

The statement they made was that the few women who do make it to executive level earn less than their male peers. That's a fact, they don't have to prove it. So they made their point.

The only thing they have to prove is women of specific job titles across the company were not paid as much as their male counterparts. That will be real easy to prove or disprove when records are requested, assuming they don't already have them.

- - - Updated - - -

In Overwatch, you get Tracer who is lesbian, Symmetra who is an autist, and I am sure I left some out.

In wow, you have pelagos who was a women in life and a man in death. You get the gay couple of horse spirit in the night fae faction, etc...

The existence of gays, people with autism, and transgender people in a video game is pushing 'woke shit' on people?
Or is it changing their games to be more inclusive?